"Mexican Flu"

Those of us who study animals know that there is a strong connection between the treatment and representation of animals and other forms of human discrimination. Carol Adams (The Sexual Politics of Meat) has profitably explored the relationship between sexism and animal use; Charles Patterson (Eternal Treblinka) and Boria Sax (Animals in the Third Reich) have pointed out the connection between industrial agriculture and the Holocaust; and Marjorie Spiegel (The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery) has looked at the connection between racism and animal use. And, of course, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle should not be forgotten.

It should thus come as no surprise that naming the outbreak of H1N1 ("the swine flu") has become an issue. (Remember, of course, H5N1 "asian bird flu," which is more often called "avian bird flu.") Earlier this week, Yakov Litzman, the deputy health minister of the Israeli said, "We will call it Mexican flu. We won't call it swine flu." A few days later, an "official" in the foreign ministry said, "Israel has no intention of given the flu any new names. It was nothing more than a slip of the tongue." And, of course, it wasn't in any way a slip of the tongue.

Update: The first mass cull - the entirety of the 300,000 pigs in Egypt is apparently underway, despite many epidemiologists saying that culls will do little to stop the spread of the flu because (1) it appears that the flu is not transferred through eating meat and (2) it has already jumped species. Epidemologists, rather, recommend 'increased surveillance and biosecurity measures' (see Reuters).

Comments

[old - Doug Johnson]

I had been wondering when someone was going to start calling it the mexican flu, or mexican pig flu, or something of the sort. By the time a real pandemic hits, everyone is going to be outright ignoring everyone who knows anything about this stuff. Sure, WHO and related organizations should be on top of what's going on with this stuff, but there shouldn't be any public alarm until there's evidence that there's been a dangerous mutation, or that a more deadly than usual form of the flu is spreading person to person.

[Craig]

Calling it "Mexican Flu" is somewhat of a misnomer, obviously. It has been around for a long time appears to be a descendant of the "Spanish flu" pandemic. There were outbreaks of "swine flu" in the US in 1976 and 1988. The current strain is unique because a mutation has occurred allowing pig-human transfer to be more efficient. The most likely causes of the mutation is captive herds kept in industrial conditions thus allowing the virus to spread quickly, mutate, and spread again. Agribusiness - in many ways perfected by Canadians! - is more accurately blamed than are Mexicans. "Swine flu" shares the same genetic lineage as the "bird flu." Presumably we'll start seeing video and pictures and giant pyres for culling swine herds - just like what we see with chickens, geese, and cattle where BSE has been discovered in the herd.

[Alain]

Thank you for posting this Craig. I am sure you are aware that the right wing in the United States has already seized on this to rearticulate their hatred of brown people. Here is a particularly nasty example from a radio host, Michael Savage:

"Make no mistake about it: Illegal aliens are the carriers of the new strain of human-swine avian flu from Mexico." Savage also stated, "If we lived in saner times, the borders would be closed immediately." Savage went on to theorize that the outbreak might be part of a bioterrorism threat: "[C]ould this be a terrorist attack through Mexico? Could our dear friends in the radical Islamic countries have concocted this virus and planted it in Mexico knowing that you, [Homeland Security Secretary] Janet Napolitano, would do nothing to stop the flow of human traffic from Mexico?" Savage continued: "[T]hey are a perfect mule -- perfect mules for bringing this virus into America. But you wouldn't think that way, would you? Because you are incapable of protecting America's homeland, Napolitano." Savage also stated: "How do you protect yourself? What can you do? I'll tell you what I'm going to do, and I don't give a damn if you don't like what I'm going to say. I'm going to have no contact anywhere with an illegal alien, and that starts in the restaurants." He added, "I will have no any illegal alien workers around me. I will not have them in any of my properties, I will not have them anywhere near me."

[Craig]

I am by no means an epidemiologist, but I imagine the best account of its spread from what was likely a local mutation to a potential pandemic happened through the North American tourism industry - I have little sympathy for the sob stories of North Americans whining that they can't go on their vacation or their "destination wedding" (as reported ad infinitum in my local daily) because they are the very ones who allowed it to become a potential pandemic in the first place (clearly, I have more sympathy for the pigs that will be culled because of a possibility they are carrying the virus and, of course, that they are already in factory conditions that make a Nazi death camp look like a vacation - c.f., Isaac Bashevis Singer's "eternal Treblinka" and all that). But, no worries, the WHO has called upon "all of humanity" to avert this threat. I witnessed this first hand today at the blood and urine sample lab: "Have you sneezed today?" "What? I don't understand." "Have you sneezed today?" Way to go, humanity!

[old - Doug Johnson]

I'm interested to see what will happen up here in terms of calls for culling in the North of North America now that the first mutated version of the virus has been found in pig herds.

[Matt]

Slightly off-topic, it certainly is depressing to look at the future preventable pandemics as both an economic/small farms issue and an animal rights issue. Unsurprisingly the legislation down here is deeply rigged to favor large-scale industrial agribusiness, to the point where any "farms" within 50 or so miles of an "outbreak" can have their entire stock put down, regardless of prior vaccine treatment–basically a sort of shock-doctrine opportunity to wipe out those pesky small family farms daring to compete (hardly, obviously) against the hormone-and-antibiotic-ridden, cancer-and-disease factory giants.

A local farmer talked our ears off about it other day, as we shoveled some free goat manure (and her perfectly healthy kids ran around barefoot in it–hygiene hypothesis anyone?).

[Malaika]

mexican flu??? I apreciate the inteligent post that have written and the comment done by Alain...

we have to think about the relationship between right and paranoic times...